Wine, allergies, and insomnia?

[Lil Ryan]

I popped open a 1998 Chardonnay last week (found it in the back of my stash). The bottle was certainly past its prime, but it was surprisingly drinkable. I usually get a bit pink with alcohol. However, that wine made me itchy and kept me up until 5am.

Any idea what would cause this, and -- if I indeed am allergic to alcohol -- what I should avoid (i.e. whites, older vintages) short of all alcoholic beverages?

[Innkeeper]

Did you eat anything with it that might have caused it? You can be allegic to grapes, to white grapes, or specific white grapes; depending. Check further.

[Thomas]

IK points out the obvious: you need to retrace your steps for the whole day, not just the evening at which you drank the wine. Not all allergic reactions pop up within minutes--it can take hours before they appear. It is a difficult thing to trace but it can be done if you can remember what you ate and touched during the 24 hours preceding the reaction; then, you have no alternative but to try to duplicate the problem by process of elimination--taking in or touching what you remember until you get the same reaction.

You need also to ask yourself why you automatically assumed it was the alcohol?

And, you need to consult a physician with training in allergies.

[This message has been edited by foodie (edited 07-23-2003).]

[curious]

There could be a lot of factors that caused the reaction besides the wine. Something that was on the bottle possibly. Allergic reactions can take as long as 24 or 48 hours to show up, so it could be anything.
As was suggested, check with what you have eaten,drank and been exposed to over the last couple of days before you "blame" the wine. Good luck
Janette (curious)